


at the end of it all

by avengingwinchesterangels



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Harry raises Tom, Hope, Pseudo-Incest, Reincarnation, Second Chances
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2015-10-29
Packaged: 2018-04-28 18:28:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5101154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avengingwinchesterangels/pseuds/avengingwinchesterangels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the end of it all is when Harry realized he had killed the only man to ever understand him and the demons he held inside.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LunaCycle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaCycle/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The next great adventure](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5031625) by [LunaCycle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaCycle/pseuds/LunaCycle). 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the updated chapter. I fixed it.

They faced each other over crossed wands once more. Red eyes locked with green. In that moment Harry felt regret for what he was about to do. He was going to take another's life even if it was in self defense. He felt loneliness in that moment the kind that comes from losing a dear friend. He felt abandonment even thought the wizard before him had been the cause of most of the tragedy in his short life. He watched as those thin lips formed the words. 

He watched as that familiar green light left the end of the elder wand. He fell in slow motion as he dodged the curse and sent a cutting hex at the older wizard. He watched the cutting hex hit the wizard in the chest. Without thought he left his wand on the ground and ran for the dark wizard. He caught the falling wizard and cradled the now broken body against his chest.

“Hold on please. Don't leave me like this. They all leave me in the end. I don't want to be alone. Everyone I love leaves me.” Harry pleaded with him. 

A pale hand snaked it's way into his line of sight and cleared the tears off his face a raspy voice said “I realized it too late. I don't want to leave you but I have no choice. Forgive me for everything. I love you Harry Potter. Never doubt that no matter what you are told. I am almost out of time but would you do the honors, please?” 

“I love you Tom Riddle.” Harry whispered against his pale temple. He picked up the elder wand and pointed it at the dying wizard's chest. He tightened his hold on the wizard in his arms. He felt a kiss pressed to the underside of his jaw before there was a quiet “I am ready now.” 

the words tasted like acid and they burned just as much. “Avada Kedavra.”were the words muttered against his temple like a lover's oath. The world stopped as Harry was overcome with grief. The scream he let out rent the very fabric of the sky. Balance, true balance was lost that day. 

He had killed the only one to understand his demons and darkness. Gone was his chance at a different life.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry looked up to see Death standing over him with a gray bundle in his arms. Harry recognized the Dementor's cloak turned blanket for whatever Death held. “If I gave you what you so desperately desired would you raise it as it should have been or would you let history repeat itself? You want only to have some small part of him back. You realized too late that you love him. You have two options. I can give you one last goodbye before I release him or I can reincarnate him for you. The choice is yours, Master.” Death said.

Harry looked at the tattered bundle Death held and asked to see the soul that Death held currently. Death crouched before Harry and let him see the young Tom Riddle currently sleeping in his hold. Harry watched awestruck as the sleeping child turned towards him for burned into the child's heart was the rune of Elhaz. Harry's love and years as a Horcrux had manifested as the rune of protection and divine might.

He watched as the sleeping child opened ruby red eyes and made his choice without thought. He reached for the child and said “I will rewrite history. I will change this. Allow me to go back to the the start and fix this as it should have been. Allow me to do this right.”

Death watched Harry reach for the soul and the soul lunged for Harry. “I grant you this right, Master to go back to the beginning. Not yours, not his. But a new beginning that you will forge together in fires of the aftermath of combat. Starting now in this moment as you fall away from the old and become new. In this moment in time will balance be restored well and truly.” there was a flash of light as the child fell into Harry and they were bonded then and forever more.

At that moment Harry ceased to age until Tom came of age. Once the child was in Harry's arms time began again. Harry stood from where he sat next to the dead body of the wizard he had been fighting with Tom in his arms. There were two odd things about this child. One was the ruby red eyes the other was the rune burned into his heart. Harry pocketed the elder wand and with a hiss of magic covered the rune on Tom's heart.

Harry turned to face his stunned friends and family. He watched the tight faces and pinched lips as he settled Tom in his arms better before walking away from the body behind him. He mounted the steps of Hogwarts and cast Sonorus wandlessly.

“The Dark Lord is dead. All Death Eaters lay down your wands. The war is over and the dead must be buried. We will mourn each and every loss, even His no matter how unpopular he was. Let us grieve for the lives lost here today. I do not want this as a future for my children. I do not want them to know war.”

Harry looked down at Tom who cooed and waved his arms before saying almost to himself. “It never should have been this way. You and I could have changed everything together. This needless loss of life needed not happen.” finally Harry looked up at the people who had gathered around. “Bury the dead and mourn. Everything else can wait.”

he canceled the charm and walked away into Hogwarts. Without thought he settled into the only piece of furniture still standing in the Great Hall, Dumbledore's throne. He set Tom in his lap and leaned over him as if to guard him from the rest of the world. Harry still felt empty but it was a different kind of empty. It wasn't the emptiness from earlier after Voldemort had killed him in the Forbidden Forest. It was more from a lack of empathy from Tom who didn't know emotions as a child. It was just static to Harry.

He whispered to the child staring up at him “I know you understand me. One day when you are older I will tell you about this day. The day you were reborn because I was selfish and refused to let you go. Every Horcrux destroyed, killed me inside. Every soul piece killed made me feel empty inside. When you killed me in the forest and I came back I knew there was something missing because I couldn't breathe. I felt numb from terror. I felt regret for what I had done to you. This is your second chance. Please, let me help you. I love you Tom Riddle.”

there was so much intelligence in those ruby eyes and Harry just watched while he whispered to Tom. Harry jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Hermonie standing over him. Harry looked past her to see everyone had gathered around the dead body of Voldemort. Harry really didn't want to part from Tom but Hermonie had asked to hold him.

Harry handed Tom over and the instant he let go completely, Tom, who had been quiet the whole time, screamed. Hermonie was quick to hand him back to Harry with a “He's not much of a people person is he?” Harry chuckled and agreed as he laid Tom on his chest.

Tom gave out a happy gurgle before falling asleep listening to Harry's heartbeat. Harry took his blanket and tied it around Tom and his chest to make a sling so he could keep his hands free. Because it was a Dementor's cloak it repelled most magics. Harry was worried that someone would attempt to kill Tom. Once his hands were free Harry stood and approached Voldemort's body. For Harry it was hard to reconcile that the child he carried on his chest and the body before him were the same people.

Harry levitated the body to a willow tree by Black lake. Once there he dug a grave using magic. He levitated the body into the hole before covering it once more with magic. Once the last of the dirt had been replaced Harry let fall one tear as the sun rose over the forest and flooded Hogwarts' lawn with light. Once the tear hit the dirt Harry turned from the grave site so he missed the lily that grew from Voldemort's grave.

The lily was blue and gilded with gold. It smelled of Amorentia that forbidden love potion. Whosoever smelled the lilies would know true love. It also had other abilities. It was almost as powerful as Phoenix tears. It also has a hidden side that bites. They were cursed that if you picked one and the intended was hurt then you were poisoned by Basilisk venom. However if the intended hurt you they were poisoned.

Harry carried Tom back to the ruin of Hogwarts where the Weasley family had gathered around George who was mourning his twin brother. He stood at the back of the crowd and mourned for Fred as well. Harry jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Arthur Weasley. There were tear stains on his face but he gave a sad smile when he saw Harry alive. The elder man said nothing about the child strapped across Harry's chest. He knew that Harry could never love his youngest child the way that she loved him.

His whole life had revolved around one wizard. Arthur had known long before Harry himself had that Harry was gay. That he was in love with the Dark Lord. He knew that the hero worship his only daughter had for Harry would kill her in the end because Harry would kill for the child that Arthur firmly believed was the Dark Lord reincarnated. He said nothing however knowing the questions and suggestions would be unwelcome. Arthur suspected that Harry would drop off the map soon.

He watched as Ginny came running up to Harry and threw herself at him. He gave a small snort of amusement when he saw Harry gently sidestep the strangle hold she would have had on him. He watched as Harry hunched over and wrapped his arms around the child to keep her from seeing him. It helped that the blanket blended in with his robes. Harry however was suppressing the very real urge to hex the youngest Weasley.

He wanted to get Tom out of harm's way but he had things to attend to. It helped that he was being so quiet so the risk of discovery went down exponentially. Harry knew that Ginny would make the suggestion that he get rid of Tom as soon as she found out about him. See, Ginny fancied herself his girlfriend. Harry had recently come to one very important conclusion about himself. He didn't fancy girls at all.

Killing Voldemort only enforced that. Everyone had stopped when they saw the two of them start to duel. Everyone had seen what had happened but nobody heard the words that were said. Nobody saw the deal with Death. Nobody remembered when the world stopped from Harry's grief. They didn't remember seeing the sky tear from the force of his grief. They didn't remember because their minds and souls could not handle such things.

Ginny was rambling about how the Dark Lord was dead and they could get married after school. Harry held up one hand to stop her mid diatribe as the other went up to rub the bridge of his nose as if to fend off the impending headache he would have. Ginny stopped speaking and Harry sighed before saying “I don't love you like that. I see you as a younger sister not a potential lover. Besides it would never work because I am gay.”

that got a screech out of both Weasely females and most of the males too. “Do what?” Molly screeched.

“I AM GAY. Ginny does NOT appeal to me in any way, shape, form or fashion. I was curious at the end of my second year but it didn't really solidify for me until my fifth year. By then I'd been having the dreams. Dumbledore played all of you. He was the first person I came out to other than my lover. Because I didn't have regular contact with you in school he promised me he would break it to you. Instead he wrote up the marriage contract that was annulled the instant I killed Voldemort. It was annulled because I am bound to another by higher powers. There is no price for the contract breaking simply because it was from a higher power.  
Anybody who means anything to me is dead. I fought against the Dark Lord not because he killed my family but because there was a better way to protect our world. I didn't want to have to kill him.” harry said firmly so no one could misunderstand him.

“Mate, are you saying between getting some of the highest OWLs in DADA and dealing with Umbitch and everything else you had time to take a lover?” Ron burst out after Harry's speech. “Yes, that is what I am saying. What part of this makes no sense to you? Me having a lover? Or me being gay?” Harry replied snarkily.

Harry just wanted out of there. He felt Tom react to his emotions and stir before settling down again. That single moment had his hands flying up to his chest to ensure Tom was alright. In that moment everyone Harry considered family found out about Tom. The blanket was covering Tom's heart so the glamoured rune was not in view. However nothing could hide those startling eyes.

Tom was secured against Harry's chest in such a way he didn't need to support him. Because he was a baby he was frustrated that he couldn't get his eyes to focus. Just because he was trapped as a baby did not mean he did not have the understanding and comprehension his old self did. Tom looked up to see emeralds floating above him. For some reason that green made him feel safe as did the arms wrapped around him.

He knew that he could trust whoever held him. Everyone else who was around not so much. He vaguely remembered his protector handing him over to another however her magic hurt him. He made his discontent for the situation show very plainly. That was when he felt the magic again. It sang to him a lullaby and soothed his soul that cried for him.

Tom had no idea how he had wound up in this place and this body but he was reacting to his protector's emotions. He had stirred when the magic did. Suddenly he was slammed with emotions that were beyond his limited scope as a baby. He heard a dark chuckle issue from beside him. What was said was once again beyond him.

Harry however had heard the chuckle and turned to see Death manifest from the shadows of fallen debris. _'in the aftermath of war families fall. It was Seen long ago that the Dark One would bind the Light One to his heart and soul, never to be parted even after life had ended. The Dark One would bind the Light to shine through rubies and emeralds together til time and Fate cut their cord. For them years would pass and neither would fall. They would never part, never live, or survive without the other. Watching as the world moved on around them, family and friends would age and pass but for them it would all stand still.'_

Harry had wrapped his arms around Tom and was shielding him as best he could before Death extended his hand to give something to Harry. Harry reached out tentatively to accept what Death had to offer. He startled when he felt the resurrection stone drop into his hand. _'you are Master of all three hollows. You hold the wand, the cloak, and the stone. Your bloodline is the key to the three part lock. None since Ignotus have held mastery. You and one other can master the hollows. Learn the truth of what truly happened here today. Learn why a great man had to die for another's game like a pawn in chess. Learn the true prophecy and fulfill my high hopes for you. Learn all you have been denied and teach it to the world you hold. Learn and fall sway to the darkest desire you hide. Teach all that you learn to the one who shares your burden of life. Above all abandon all but hope and cling to the riddle when all seems lost.'_

suddenly he was gone after having imparted his wisdom. Harry was confused but knew that he would figure it out soon. He clenched his fist around the stone and wrapped his arm around Tom once more. He knew that Tom was the only other one who could master the Hollows. So the bloodline bit was true.

Little did Harry know, in the Shrieking Shack, Severus Snape was just waking up with a migraine to match. Harry would need the Potion Master's pull and teaching in the years to come. Snape had some of the answers Harry needed. He heard the dark chuckle as he sat up with a groan. He whipped around but the shadow was already gone. He groaned again as he cradled his aching head in his hands.

Back at Grimmuald Place, Sirius was sitting up in bed with a gasp. He saw the smoke fade into shadow as he heard the same chuckle others were hearing. The rules had been changed and he had answers for Harry as well. He would teach Harry how to be a Lord in the years to come. He would train Harry to be the Potter Lord as well as take his place once his rightful time had come.

In Hogwarts, an enchantment fell and the wards rebooted, concealing Hogwarts from prying eyes. The enchantment that was broken allowed the Founder portraits to be found once more. Other than the Chamber all lore on the Founders had been lost. Now it would be found again and the house rift healed.

Meanwhile on the lawn, Harry had the Elder wand pointed at the people he had once considered family. “Where did the child come from, Harry?” Molly asked as Ginny shrieked in the background. Arthur sent a silencing charm at his youngest child.

“You would not believe me if I told you. Besides you would want to kill him just because of who he was. If I told you he was mine and Tom's you would kill him for the sins of the father. If I told you he was the Dark Lord reincarnated you would kill him for the sins of his last life. If I told you he was innocent you would take one look at him and argue otherwise.  
Who he is and where he came from is not of import. He was a gift from Death to keep me sane. I would have gone insane from grief at having to kill the only person to understand me. I had to kill the one person who I could relate to. All of what Death said makes sense to me.  
I will abandon everything but the riddle. You were played like pawns in a chess game with Dumbledore as the king. I've lost everyone I have ever loved. I was left in an abusive home with the Dursley's just to make me submissive. What Dumbledore failed to realize is, an abusive home also make you a Slytherin because they are out for self preservation. You learn to care only about yourself and what you can get away with without being caught.  
I will take my child and disappear. He is mine to raise and mine to love. My whole life, I have been starved of affection and he was the only one to show me such, even if he tried to kill me half the time to keep up appearances. I will show him the proper path. Don't look for me, you won't find me.”

Harry turned on the spot and apparated away with no definite destination in mind. When the magic let him go, he approached the edge of the wards, only for them to accept him. _So, Master has found Potter Manor. I will insure your teachers arrive in a timely manner. They will be here shortly._ Harry heard from the shadows.

He didn't turn to find the owner of the voice knowing that the owner had left already. Harry walked into the Manor, just to startle the house elf that cried when it saw him. “Masta Harry has returned. Oh it is a joyous day indeed. We always wondered when we would see the young Masta again. We have much history to tell you.” the house elf gushed before Harry held up a hand.

“Can we discuss this later? Right now I am tired and Tom needs feeding. I need a bottle of infant formula and a bed.” Harry said as he untied Tom from his chest. The house elf popped out before coming back two seconds later. Once Harry had the bottle the house elf led him into the Master bedroom.

Harry sat down and fed Tom before setting the bottle aside and falling asleep on top of the covers under the Dementor's cloak with Tom on his chest. While Harry slept Death took the moment to combine his hollows and create Harry's scythe because Harry would become Death once his mission was complete. Tom, however would become the next Dark Lord for good. He would rule all of the Dark till Harry found someone to take over for him.

It was the natural order of things. Death smiled fondly because he remembered his time as the wizard known as Ignotus Perevell. He had chosen not to take anyone into his station when he took up the hollows. Harry however was Soul Bound to Tom. Tom would follow Harry to his afterlife when he was finished being Death.

It was an interesting cycle for sure. Nobody really knew when it had started or why but even Death is not immortal. All things must pass eventually even Death. When Death was finished with Harry's scythe, he laid it on the bed next to Harry for him to find. It was obsidian with the cloak tucked into the shaft and the stone set at the base of the blade; the wand was set just under the stone as part of the shaft.

When Harry woke and picked it up it would become a tattoo that would allow him access the hallows if needed. After about three hours Harry finally woke. Death had his hands busy in the aftermath of the battle. There were souls to ferry so Death had left Harry to sleep. Harry woke and sat up making sure to hold on to Tom. The Dementor blanket fell to the bed and Tom whined at the change in position before snuggling deeper into Harry's chest.

Harry chuckled before standing and laying Tom on the bed. Tom whined a little at being let go but quieted when Harry said “Hush. I am only going a few feet away. I will be right back.” Harry went into the en suite bathroom and used the toilet. He flushed and was washing his hands when he heard a house elf pop into the room behind him. He turned the water off and faced the house elf. “Masta their be people in the entrance hall asking for you.” the house elf said.

“Thank you. I will be down shortly. Can one of you find me some decent Muggle clothing to wear around the manor as well as something for Tom to wear? Also lead the guests into the drawing room and offer refreshments as well as an explanation as to why I am taking so long to come down.” Harry said before walking out of the room.

He heard the house elf pop out after he left. He turned to Tom who was watching him with curious eyes. That was when he saw the scythe laying on the bed. He reached over Tom to pick it up and it melded into his skin. It was a painless process. On Harry's left forearm now was a tattoo of the scythe. Harry heard the house elf pop in with clothing for him and Tom.

“Thank you. That will be all.” Harry said without turning around. He turned around and picked up the clothing and changed before changing Tom. He picked up Tom and went downstairs to the drawing room. Somehow he knew he would never get lost in the Manor. When he walked into the drawing room he was not surprised to see Severus sitting on one end of the room and his godfather on the other. Both of them stood when they saw Harry enter.

“Pup, what is going on? Why am I alive?” Sirius said. Severus echoed his questions. “You are here because you have things to teach and answers to questions that I have. Until Death decides that you have fulfilled your role you will stay here with me and Tom.” Harry said.

**Author's Note:**

> If this gets a good reception I may make it multi chaptered. If that's the case I've already started chapter two even though God knows I've got enough to keep me busy.


End file.
